Therapeutic community

Addiction can make life unmanageable, not only for an addict, but for their friends and family too. Deciding to find addiction help and overcome life-controlling issues is the beginning of a new life journey that often needs to be taken with others for support.

Addiction treatment services

The British Medical Association recognises addiction as a chronic yet treatable medical condition. Our therapeutic community meets the directives provided by NICE to health care providers and supports the journey from addiction to health and abstinence for addicts.

Addiction centres have a variety of differing approaches to helping people overcome substance abuse. Our therapeutic community’s treatment model is based on the work of Dr De Leon. This treatment model has been widely researched and evidence suggests that it is effective not just in treating addiction but also in symptom reduction and goal attainment with regard to PTSD.

What is a therapeutic community?

Freedom Communities Therapeutic Community (FCTC) is a supportive residential nine-month programme designed for men wishing to address their addiction issues. Residents are encouraged to understand themselves better and explore the reasons why they use mood-altering, addictive substances. In addressing these issues through challenging negative behavioural traits and peer support, residents are able to learn new ways of coping and living in society.

The residential therapeutic community at Croscombe Barton on Exmoor is distinguished from other institutional or addiction treatment services in that its social environment is the treatment model. The main elements of this model are the social organisation and social relationships which are used to enable the reintegration of individuals into wider society.

The focus is on social participation, mutual responsibility, and relationships based on trust and the values of the right way of living. Through group work, pro-social roles and creating a friendly environment which encourages self-reliance and independence, residents are able to progress from their previous behaviour and grow their potential over a 6 –9 month period. We recommend and facilitate a further 6 month resettlement into our supported move-on houses in Barnstaple.

Thanks to the staff at Freedom and the Behavioural Change Centre, I have a place to live, have quit drugs and even been able to get work experience. If it wasn’t for the Therapeutic Community and the support I received I’d probably be back in a bad place – homeless and on drugs still. I can’t thank everyone at Freedom enough, they really did help me turn my life around.

- FCTC Graduate.

Steps towards independence

The last 3 – 6 months of the treatment programme is residential in a supported housing, transitional accommodation setting in Barnstaple - please note that in these last 3 months residents are still on the treatment programme. Residents then graduate and on-going involvement in the therapeutic community as a graduate programme facilitator is available. These residents are expected to take a lead role in the community, while engaging in employment or pursuing further training off site: they will generally remain in this transitional stage for up to six months. Graduates who do not wish to pursue this route also have the option of transitional housing and are supported, as are the programme facilitators, to pursue education, employment and independent accommodation.

The supported transition houses all have a community/share house atmosphere with private rooms for residents and shared living spaces. Each resident has a support worker who helps tailor a plan specifically in response to their needs. These plans can include training and further education, how to maintain recovery, health and fitness, budgeting, finance and computer skills, hobbies, recreation and social clubs; dependent on what the resident requires and requests support with.

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Each year, our Day Centre Helps around 1,000 people with all sorts of problems, from mental health issues to finding work, homelessness to budgeting. Watch some clips of the stories we've seen this year and keep this access free for those who need it

Each year, our Day Centre Helps around 1,000 people with all sorts of problems, from mental health issues to finding work, homelessness to budgeting. Watch some of the stories we've seen this year and keep this free for those who need it.

We are not prepared to see vulnerable people homeless on the streets and we believe that everyone has a right to a stable, secure and decent home. We are looking for supporters who believe the same and who will help us to raise the money we need to furnish and equip this house to a good standard. Will you help?

Each year, our Day Centre Helps around 1,000 people with all sorts of problems, from mental health issues to finding work, homelessness to budgeting. Watch some clips of the stories we've seen this year and keep this access free for those who need it

There are lots of misconceptions about how and why people find themselves in difficult situations such as being homeless, battling addiction, without work or unable to put food on the table. Here you'll find the facts.